Enviva and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines come together for green bulkers

Enviva and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), a Japanese shipping company, have signed a memorandum of understanding to build and deploy an environmentally friendly bulk carrier.

“In our recently announced goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, we committed to proactively engage with our partners and other key stakeholders to adopt clean energy solutions in our supply chain and this is one of the first opportunities for us to explore carbon reductions in our Scope 3 emissions,”  commented Thomas Meth, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Enviva.

The agreement's aim is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sustainable wood pellet ocean transportation.

Initially, the collaboration will look at the environmental benefits, as well as the economic and operational viability of different technologies.

This will include the ‘Wind Challenger,' a cargo ship concept with a hard sail that uses wind energy to minimize pollution.

The Wind Challenger project began in 2009 as a joint industry-academic research project led by the University of Tokyo. MOL taken responsibility for the strategy in 2018 and has been working on the technology ever since. In 2022, the first Wind Challenger is expected to be announced.

With the aid of a telescopic hard sail, the system converts wind energy into propelling power. The long-term aim is to establish a widely accepted shipping solution that combines multiple sails with other GHG-reduction steps to meet the International Maritime Organization's objective.

Maritime Business World